Somewhere I got off track & ended up on my seat!!!

Yesterday I wanted to start something new, so I messed with the gas gauge a bit with no luck there.

While I was in the cab I really started looking at the seat. The seat never felt right to me. When you sit in it, it sinks to far down and it sits too low as it is. So while you are sunk down the back rest feels like its pushing you forward. All this combined with a slight slope of the seat back to front.

Note how the back of the seat is just below the window trim here.

So, what could I do about it?? Like many other parts of the truck I decided to tear it out and see what I could do with it.

Battery sits behind the seat .. I may move it, but not now. I will move that one wire under the brace rather than over it.

Old GM seat belts need a good cleaning!

 In the above photo - bottom left - is where the seat back" legs" had been welded on. You can see the seat bottom sat on the 2 rails going side to side). The bottom edge of the seat will have to come up to the top edge of the decorative metal in order for it to sit better. Raising the seat will also give me more leg room!

All of this frame work was there prior to my ownership.

Out and ready for mods!

At first I decided that the back rest was too high. It didn't look right. With the top edge sitting on the horizontal cab brace/window support that was the cause of it pushing you forward. While some like to sit erect and stiff while driving I do not.

I contemplated doing a chop on the seat and was actually doing the measurements. That's when it came to me .... cut out the mount rails that the brackets bolt to and move them up. Which in turn lowers the seat back. This allows me to fit it under horizontal brace.

So I tore the seat apart. Well I did not tear it but cut all of the hog rings off and dismantled it. I drilled out the old tack welds on both sides then used a chisel and broke the mounts loose. I then positioned them 2 inches higher and welded them back on.

I did not get a picture of the inside of the hard seat back, but I knocked off the crud and surface rust and painted it with some leftover gold paint I had (it will not be seen)

Note the mounting rails in their original position. These will go up (southwest in this photo) 2 inches. That puts the ends as far as the can go into the curve.

Bracket removed.

Put it all back together and secured it with new hog rings. I opted not to add any foam as I did not want the back sitting out further than it already did.


I mocked it up and I think it is going to look pretty good. BTW I think this is out of an old Jeep or something similar, but I can not be sure.

See how it now sits below and under the window rail (?).

Now I needed to raise the seat a bit so I don't feel like a little kid behind the wheel. Keep in mind I am about 6 foot tall and around 185 pounds. I researched and found a diagram of a 36 with a lot of measurements and it called for 35 or 36 (could not make out the drawing) inches from the top of the cab roof to the top of the seat. There was no way I was going to bring it up to that height and still have the back fit without it probably blocking the rear window LOL So I decided to raise it 2 inches and add padding to the top. I will (maybe tomorrow) give the springs some support with straps or wire. I also read where you can cover the frame with a sturdy material so the springs work more in unison. I imagine this would also take some weight off the springs.

I started tearing it apart. I added about two inches of foam to the top and that's about as far I got today. I spent the rest of the evening looking at how I was going to modify the existing frame work to raise the seat. I have a plan but it is nothing fancy ... it should work.

Tomorrow I will need to raise the seat mount.

Clean up the seat frame.

Paint the frame.

Put it back together.

Clean up the floor area and install the seat.

Then mount the back section.